Digital agency
Organic released findings that suggests Bing could prove a better use for marketing dollars than its predecessor Microsoft Live Search. Better results could free up some clients' budget to allocate
elsewhere, according to Steve Kerho, SVP of media, analytics, and marketing Optimization at Organic, part of Omnicom Group.
The study compared Bing with Live Search during a two-week period and
found a 23% increase in return on investment for marketing dollars. To determine the uptick, the research company relied on two analytics tools, Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI), and Spend Plan
Optimization Tool (SPOT).
"Using the models to look across all our clients' campaigns, we see a significant impact to ROI since Bing was released," Kerho. "When ROIs rise, it gives us more
flexibility to do more things with the same amount of money. When ROI declines, I have to take money away from another project and change the mix."
Kerho explains that Organic builds out complex
attribute models that look at strings of online activities. The patterns analyze how people consume information, as well as the correlation and the causality between what happens on a brand's Web site
vs. in the brick-and-mortar retail locations.
A cost analysis follows by assigning a price for each activity, including click, reading an article, checking sports scores, and reading emails. The
activity across the Web, in aggregate, is assigned a value -- which, in part, determines the return on investment (ROI).
Kerho declined to compare ROI from Google with Bing because "parameters,
such as reach, are different" -- but says "there's an audience that probably prefers searching on Bing, rather than Google." To pinpoint the demographics -- people who prefer Bing over Google -- Kerho
says he would have to sit down with his directors of search, and compare the results with numbers from comScore and others.
Aside from Organic, Efficient Frontier has run its own numbers. In
June, Efficient Frontier reported a 13% increase in paid-click share for Microsoft during the second week following the launch. New data shows that as of the first week in August, Bing lifted click
share 44% since the beginning of June.
As reported last month in their quarterly report, Bing continues to show strength in both Travel and Finance categories, with gains of 11% and 22%,
respectively.